tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 16 22:15:56 1998

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Re: List of Klingon fauna

In a message dated 98-06-15 14:08:43 EDT, Voragh writes:

<< 
   juHqo'Daq vaS'a' tu'lu'.  ngoch luchermeH 'ej wo' San luwuqmeH pa' ghom
    tlhIngan yejquv DevwI'pu'. 
   On the Homeworld, there is a great hall where the leaders of the Klingon
High
    Council meet to determine policy and decide upon the fate of the Empire.
 (S25)
 
 {pa'} seems to be acting as a pronoun for {vaS'a'}.
 
   tlhIngan wo' yuQmey chovlu'chugh Qo'noS potlh law' Hoch potlh puS.  roD
'oHvaD
    juHqo' ponglu' neH.  pa' 'oHtaH vaS'a''e' 
   The principal planet of the Klingon Empire, Qo'noS is usually referred to
as
    simply "The Homeworld."  This is where the Klingon Great Hall is located
 (S27)
 
 Here, {pa'} seems to be acting as a pronoun for either {Qo'noS} or {juHqo'}.
 
   batlh maHeghbej 'ej yo' qIjDaq vavpu'ma' DImuv.  pa' reH maSuvtaHqu' 
   Then we die with honor and join our fathers in the Black Fleet where
    we battle forever. (Anthem)
 
 And here {pa'} seems to be acting as a pronoun for {yo' qIjDaq}.
 
 When {pa'} is acting pronominally, it can be translated "where" in English.
 ({nuqDaq} is reserved for questions.)  You're right that {pa'} isn't the
 object of a verb in these examples, but it is clearly being used as a
 pronoun.  I couldn't find any examples of {naDev} used in this fashion,
though.
  >>
 Truly interesting.  If {pa'} is not acting as a pronoun, but retains only its
attributes of an adverb, we may have a canon headless clause.  Nay, hold!  The
head of the clause appears much later:  {tlhIngan yejquv DevwI'pu'}

As a beginning writer of tlhIngan Hol sentences, I would have produced {ngoch
luchermeH tlhIngan yejquv DevwI'pu' 'ej wo' San luwuqmeH chaH vaS'a'Daq ghom
chaH}.  Putting {pa'} in place of {vaS'a'Daq} brings back the concept that
{pa'} is referring back (quasi-pronomially) to the previous instance of
{vaS'a'}.  So, all I have done is point out that even MO uses temporarily
headless clauses.

peHruS

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